Snow or ice velocipede.



No. 627,653. Patented June 27, I899. B. J. NILSON.

SNOW 0R ICE VELOCIPEDE.

(Application filed Oct. 5, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Modei.)

Illlllll I/VVENTOH cm 7% WITNESES ATTORNEY No. 627,653. Patented June 27, I899.

C. J. NILSUN. SNOW 0B ICE VELOCIPEDE.

(Application filed. Oct. 6, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W/TN ESSES I l/VVE/VTO 52d ov v l 6% M I A TORNE Y,

I YNEIFFEE PEYERS so, wowuwo" ASNINGTON, n cy UNITED STATE PATENT OFFroE.

CARL .TOHAN NILSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIeNon on ONE-HALF T OLAES c. JOHNSTON, on SAME PLACE.

SNOW OR ICE VELOCIPEDE.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,653, dated June 27, 1899.

Application filed October 5, 1898.

of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Snow or Ice Velocipedes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to a machine or :0 apparatus especially designed to facilitate travel upon snow or ice, being propelled,when occasion requires, by the feet of the rider, and ,called a snow and ice velocipede. The object of my invention is to provide or I 5 produce a machine of the character above indicated, which shall be capable of being rapidly propelled with, a minimum of power or penditure, which will travel over comparatively rough tracts without unnecessary fazo tigue to the rider, which may be easily and accurately guided and certainly arrested or checked when required, which may be propelled upgrade or allowed to descend the same as an ordinary bicycle, and which will,

2 5 in fact, alford a convenient and desirable vehicle in all respects suitable for use under the conditions indicated.

To accomplish all of the above and to secure other and further advantages in the mat ters of construction, operation, and use, my

improvements involve certain novel and useful arrangements or combinations of parts,

peculiarities of construction, and principles of operation, as will be herein first fully de- 3 5 scribedand then pointed out in the claims. In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation and partial sectional view of my improved ice and snow velocipede, showing 0 the parts in position for use; and Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view with a portion in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation showing the manner of and means for uniting the rear runners on the sides of the machine. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section and elevation showing one of the guided rods and the upper portion of its casing. Figs. 5 and 6 are horizontal sectional views taken, respectively, on planes through lines 0c 00 and yy of Fig. 4, showing the antifrictionballs in place.- Fig. 7 is a side View, Fig. 8

Serial 1%. 692,681, (No model.)

a plan, and Fig. 9 a front View of fragments, showing the construction and arrangement of the particular form of the propelling dogs or pawls indicated in Figs 1 and 2; and Fig. 10 is a side view showing a modified manner of arranging and mounting these dogs or pawls. Fig. 11 is a partial section and elevation showing a fragment of one of the rear runners with an automatic safety-pawl mounted therein in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 12 isa corresponding plan view.

In all the views like letters of reference wherever they occur indicate corresponding.

parts.

The machine is supported in a peculiar manner upon three runners or shoes suitably fashioned for contact with the snow or ice and made of any suitable material, preferably of metal. These are three in number, of which A is the forward runner and B B the two rearward runners, the former being capable of being turned to efiect the steering and the latter admitting the propelling-pawls by which the vehicle is forced in a forward direction. The rear runners may be located at any desirable distance from each other; but it is preferred not to spread the base of the machine too much, and they are therefore preferably located about as indicated in the drawings.

The frame which supports the saddle is con nected with the runners by suitable joints,

which will permit the runners to conform to ordinary variations or roughnesses of the path and which will permit the rear runners tosuecessively advance as the peculiar manner of propelling requires that they should do. 0 C is the upper member of the frame; 0, the front hollow post O O and O 0 lower members which carry the driving-gears, and O C are rear hollow posts to which the upper and lower members are secured in a-substantial manner, as at the points a a and b b.

The sprocket D, driven through the medium of the pedals and their arms, is shown as connected with the driving-gear D by means of a chain, but any other means of connecting these .two parts may be adopted. The gear D carries crank-arms D D and these are coupled with the runners B B by connectingarms D D which as the gear revolves compel the said runners to advance a certain distance one at a time, as will be easily understood. That the runners may be made to advance in substantially horizontal directions as the necessity of the machine requires they are combined with the frame in a peculiar manner. Each runner B is jointed or hinged, as at 0, upon a coupling rod or arm E, the upper end of the latter being hinged, or jointed upon a sliding rod F, mounted and movable within one of the rear posts C The two rods F F are connected at their upper ends by means of a flexible but sufiiciently powerful spring G, bent over a sheave l'Lwhich is axled in a casing I, the latter supported upon the tops of the rear posts 0 The axle of sheave II is preferably mounted in ball-bearings, as indicated at (Z, Fig. 1, and the upper part of the casing is hinged to the lower, as at e, Fig. 3, to afford access to the interior. Spring G is confined to its proper position upon the sheave by any desirable number of grooved pulleys, as at ff, these being axled in the walls of the casing. The two posts 0 are rigidly maintained in proper relation one to the other by a cross-piece, as 0". The sliding rods F should be prevented from turning in their seatiugs, and for this purpose they are each supplied with ribs or fins, as g g, and these are made to travel in grooves, as h h, supplied for them in the posts 0 (See Figs. 4, 5, and 6.) To facilitate the movements of the rods F and to diminish friction, the posts are supplied with a number of antifrictionballs, as 2' t', and the rods bear against these during all their movements.

As the vehicle moves and one of the rear runners is brought forward its connecting-rod E must reach out in order that the runner may remain on the surface, and at the same time the other connecting-rod must permit its attached runner to maintain the same general horizontal position. These variations in the reaches of the two rods are well provided for by the means employed for connecting them at the top, and the connections are such, as will be seen, that they compel the upper endof one of the rods to rise precisely as the upperend of the other descends, and this permits the vehicle to travel smoothly. Vithout some such arrangement the rear part of the vehicle would rise and fall as it traveled along.

Vhen either of the rear runners is advanced, it is intended that it shall be held in that advanced position and prevented from slipping back, for without some such provision the vehicle could not be propelled with certainty upon snow or ice. To accomplish this holding, I employ automatically-acting pawls, which enter and leave the surface of the path at the proper times. These maybe variously fashioned and mounted. K K are such pawls. They are set upon the rods E E, as best shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, and they may be supplied with three tines, as indicated, or with more or less, as circumstances re quire. The tines project through openings provided for the purpose in the runners B, and they are set so as to project more or less, as may be desirable. As soon as one runner B commences to advance the advancing movement swings the rod E upon its upper joint, and thus turns the tines up and carries them out of the surface of the path, permitting the runner to slide forward without obstruction from them, and as soon as the runner reaches its forward limit the vehicle continuing its forward movement causes the rod E to swing on its lower joint, thus turning the tines down through the runner and into contact with the surface of the path, there to continue until the runner is again advanced. The pawls may be made to swing out and in by otherwise mounting them.' For instance, as in Fig. 10, the arm D otherwise corresponding in all respects with the arm D is coupled directly with the rod E near its lower end, as shown, instead of with the runner, as in previous figures, and the pawl K is mounted upon the rod D. Obviously the movements of the machine when it is being propelled will automatically accomplish the entrance and withdrawal of the pawl, same as in the former form.

The forward runner A is hinged, as at it, upon the steering-rod L, which passes through the hollow post C and is mounted in that post after the manner of mounting the corresponding element in any of the modern forms of bicycles, the rod carrying the usual handles M Mat top. The forward runner is supplied with a safety-pawl, as N, hinged at its forward end and projecting down through the runner, as indicated. The tines of this pawl ride over the path as the vehicle moves forward,but they catch into the surface as soon as the movementis reversed, thus operating to prevent any sliding backward, and incidentally it assists in holding the vehicle in case the propelling-pawls do not secure a substantial hold upon the surface of the path. An adj usting-rod Z, with the nut thereon, allords means for regulating the extent to which the pawl may project, as also means by which it may be sustained out of contact with the surface below if it should be desired to ride without using it.

0 O are straps secured to the frame and operating to guide and steady the rods E in their forward and backward movements and to prevent them from becoming displaced. 0, Fig. 1, is a simple form of brace, which may be employed to contribute stilfness to the guiding-straps.

The saddlc-postP passes through both members of the frame,-Whereby it is rendered very secure and helps to stiffen the frame. It may be easily adjusted to any desired height.

Q is a pointed brake-rod applied in some suitable manner upon the post C and supplied with a retracting-sprin g, as m, by which it is normally held up and out of working position. \Vhen forced down, as it maybe by any suitable means, it passes through the runner A and enters the surface of the path, thus operating as an effectual brake in case of any circumstance requiring its use.

R R are adjustable yokes by which the forward movements of the rods E are determined or limited, as is necessary to. prevent the possibility of the rear runners advancing too far during rapid traveling.

The vehicle constructed and arranged substantially in accordance with the foregoing explanations may be propelled up ordinary grades, may be used for coasting,for ordinary traveling, or for sporting purposes,-and it may be employed for sliding upon ice and snow with the same facility-and advantages that the bicycle .is now used upon the road.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a vehicle of the character herein set forth, the combination with a frame carrying the driving-gear and its connecting-rods, of three runners jointed with respect to the frame and arranged to travel upon the surface of the path, the two rear runners being united by the rods and spring, the latter running over a sheave, substantially as and for thepurposes explained.

2. a In a vehicle of the character hereinset forth, the combination with the rearrunners, of the hinged connecting-rods uniting them with the sliding rods, the latter being connected substantially as explained so as to compel them to move simultaneously and with relation to each other in the manner shown and described.

3. The combination with the sliding rods and the hinged rods connecting them with the rear runners, of a spring uniting the upper ends of the sliding rods, said rods being provided with ribs to prevent them from turning and with ball-bearings as set forth, the spring running over a sheave upon which it is held in place, substantially as shown and described.

4. In combination with the two rear runners connected as explained by the connectingrods, sliding rods and spring running over a sheave, the automatically-operating propelling-pawls arranged to enter the surface of the path and to be withdrawn therefrom at the times and substantially in the manner and for the purposes explained.

5.,In combination with a gear D having cranks D the connecting-rods D hinged to the rear runners, the latter being jointed upon rods D and connected by sliding rods and the spring running over the sheave, substantially as explained so as to maintain a horizontal or substantially horizontal position while the vehicle is in motion for-the objects named.

6. In a vehicle provided with three runners, the forward runner connected with the steering-post by a hinged joint, said runner being supplied with an automatically-acting pawl arranged to prevent backward move ment of the Vehicle, the parts being combined for operation substantially 'as set forth.

Y 7. In combination with the forward runner, the brake-rod mounted upon the front post of the frame and arranged to'be forced through the runner and into the surface of the path, said brake-bar being supplied with a'spring for holding it normally out of working position, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 7

8. In combination with the-hollow posts 0 the casing for containing thesheave, and the cross-bar C the casing being supplied with a hinged cover, substantially as shown and described.

9. In combination with the casing,the axled sheave mounted therein and carrying the spring which connectsthe upper ends of the sliding posts, and the pulleys f also axled in the casing and arranged to maintain the springin place upon the sheave, substantially as shown and described.

10. In combination with the hollow posts 0 the sliding rods F provided with ribs and the antifriction-balls ;all arranged and operating substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 30th day of September, A. D. 1898.

. CARL J OHAN NILSON.

Witnesses: I

WORTH Osooon, ERNST LUNDGREN. 

